America's Medicis The Rockefellers and Their Astonishing Cultural Legacy

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Description: The first book to explore the immense cultural contributions of one of America's wealthiest and most influential families: the RockefellersAbby Aldrich Rockefeller sparked her family's passion for art, but it was her husband, John D. RockefellerMore...

The first book to explore the immense cultural contributions of one of America's wealthiest and most influential families: the RockefellersAbby Aldrich Rockefeller sparked her family's passion for art, but it was her husband, John D. Rockefeller Jr., who once was hailed as the "greatest friend and patron of the arts since Florence's Lorenzo de Medici." Together and separately they, as well as their descendents, became a major force on the American art scene. The dozen Rockefeller-sponsored museums, including MoMA and the Cloisters, are among the world's finest. Their architectural projects-Rockefeller Center, the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, Lincoln Center-are equally stellar. The family also enriched existing institutions with entire collections of modern, Asian, "primitive," and folk art, in addition to ancient artifacts.Based on a wealth of information culled from the family's extensive archives, America's Medicis traces the Rockefellers' artistic philanthropies from their beginnings to the present. As author Suzanne Loebl makes clear, the Rockefellers did more than simply provide money and artworks; they also devoted themselves to the causes they believed in-a commitment that helped define and direct America's artistic tastes. In spite of all these material gifts, the Rockefellers' most lasting contribution was to teach America that art does not belong to a rarefied elite, but can be enjoyed and understood by all. Erudite and engaging, America's Medicis is a remarkable account of the twentieth-century American art world and the extraordinary family at its center.

George Ames Plimpton was born March 18, 1927. He was educated first at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, and then spent four years at Harvard majoring in English and editing the Harvard Lampoon, followed by two at King's College, Cambridge. Before he left for Cambridge, he served as a tank driver in Italy for the U.S. Army from 1945 through 1948. After graduation, at about 27 years of age, Plimpton went with his friends to Paris. There they founded the Paris Review in 1953 and published poetry and short story writers and did interviews. In the '50s, Plimpton and staff came to New York, where they kept the Review going for half a century. The Review has published over 150 issues. Plimpton also served as a volunteer for Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential run and was walking in front of him as the candidate was assassinated in the kitchen of a Los Angeles hotel. Plimpton was known as a "participatory journalist". In order to research his books and articles, he quarterbacked in a pre-season NFL game, pitched to several all-stars (retiring Willie Mays and Richie Ashburn) in an exhibition prior to Baseball's 1959 All-Star game, performed as a trapeze artist for the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus, and fought boxers Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson. Plimpton was alson known by the nickname the Prince of Cameos for the amount of work he did in films, playing small parts and screenwriting. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2002. Within a month of the academy induction, the French made him a Chevalier, the Legion of Honor's highest rank. The Guild, an arts organization based on Long Island, gave him a lifetime achievement award. Plimpton was also a member of PEN; the Pyrotechnics Guild International; the National Football League Alumni Association; and the Mayflower Descendants Society. In 2003, Plimpton decided to write his memoirs, signing a $750,000 deal with Little, Brown and Co. Before he could finish, George Plimpton died, on September 26, 2003 of natural causes at the age of 76.Suzanne Loebl lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Introduction

Preamble: An Imperial Nest

To the Glory of God

A Passion for Asia

Bridging the Past and the Present: The Oriental Institute, the Cairo Museum, the Metropolitan Museum's Assyrian Sculptures, and the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum, Jerusalem

Rockefeller Center

Mother's Museum: MoMA, 1929-39

The Cloisters

Colonial Williamsburg and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum of American Folk Art

MoMA Under Nelson A. Rockefeller's Stewardship, 1939-69

A Modest Man Assumes His Birthright: The Asia Society and Lincoln Center

The Rockefeller Collection at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Mall

David Rockefeller: The Museum of Modern Art and the JPMorgan-Chase Corporate Art Collection

In Memoriam: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center in San Antonio, Texas

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